IMPACT OF BEHAVIOURAL FINANCE ON RISK PERCEPTION, PSYCHOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR, AND FINANCIAL DECISIONS OF MOROCCAN INVESTORS

The paper deals with behavioural finance as a stream of finance challenging the principles of classical finance by adding psychology to the reasons that could explain observed anomalies within financial markets and which, at the same time, are caused by real human behaviour. The aim of this paper is to explore investors' behavioural, biases and their disturbances of rationality, focusing mostly on the factors of loss aversion, cultural influences, and overconfidence, and how these elements influence investment decisions. It is based on empirical data and behavioural experiments, which help to show how such biases deviate from efficient market theories; this work also tests some methods that can mitigate these negative effects, therefore providing insights on how to integrate the teaching of behavioural finance more effectively into the decision-making process of investors and experts within finance. Precisely, this work is aimed at attempting to provide a model of psychological behaviour for Moroccan investors, based on an investigation carried out in the field among 93 regular investors in the Casablanca Stock Exchange. The main findings of the study underline how behavioural biases deviate from predictions by efficient market theories. This paper has only focused on the specific context of Moroccan investors, yet giving insight into how psychological factors impact investment decisions through new insights into life where these financial behaviours take place. There is, hence, uniqueness to the research through the theoretical and practical approaches integrated therein, with the use of empirical data and behavioural experiments that sustain the discussion on behavioural finance. Presenting the case of Moroccan investors adds a significant contribution to proposing a context-specific model, which may bring important implications for financial decision-making within the region.